Journey to Elsewhere
by SoulWriter5683
Summary: Hallucinations, weird weather, and stale bread. This thrilling fan fiction describes in full detail Jonas' journey to elsewhere with a little twist on how he actually gets there. Because he does... doesn't he?
1. Chapter 1

**OK, so here's a little breakdown of the story**

**Chapters 1 and 2 - mostly describing the journey to elsewhere (you can skip these if you want)**

**Chapter 3- Where it starts to get interesting!**

**Chapter 4- well, stay tuned and see! :)**

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Jonas walked among the many trees, their bark a dark chocolate brown, thin as bamboo stalks but as tall as oaks.

The air was a biting cold, and Jonas shivered as he held little Gabriel close to him and felt his chest rising and falling against his.

Despite the brilliant sunshine the cold stung like a thousand needles and his thin, generic community clothing did little to protect him from the harsh elements. His fingertips, ears, and toes had become numb long ago. He felt as if he had been walking forever, and that he would be walking for all eternity. Every hour was like the one before it; trees, and rocks, then more trees, and then some bare bushes. Even in his desperate situation, Jonas could acknowledge that the simplicity of the forest was great yet so was its beauty.

Back in the community, all of the trees looked exactly the same, as if they came out of a photocopy machine. Bushes were always kept trimmed in perfectly identical cubical shapes; the grass always kept at the ideal length and was a dull shade of grey, like everything else. All plants were kept in shape by the Community Maintenance Committee, which ensured that all plants "Are kept neat, orderly, and in a manner which adds to the overall organized structure of the community". _Psssh. _Jonas scoffed, almost laughing at the memory. He preferred the unorganized, but beautiful, forest much more.

With each step his shoes made a rustling sound as they crunched last fall's dead leaves along with the delicate frost that took over the forest that morning. _Just keep walking, _he told himself._Don't think. Just walk and walk and walk till your legs are sore, then walk some more. Elsewhere is out there, and walking is the only way to get to it._

After what seemed like forever and a day, Jonas collapsed against an ancient oak tree. His feet felt as if they were on fire. They burned with the pain of mild frostbite and were sore and blistered for walking hours on end. He simply couldn't walk anymore, not now. He had forced himself, scolded himself for wanting to give up, and even bargained with himself, thinking things like _if you keep walking for a couple more hours, you can rest an extra night when you stop. _But now, he had to rest.

The ache in his legs and the stinging in his feet was simply too much to bear. He wrapped his arms around Gabriel and held him close, leaning his head back and tried to get comfortable.(Well, as comfortable as you can get in freezing cold, leaning against an oak tree, ) As he stared off into the distance, His eyelids immediately began to grow heavy. In fact, just keeping them open was taking so much strength…

Jonas opened his eyelids slowly to find himself still against the old oak tree. Gabriel's tiny face was smudged with dirt, and he clung to Jonas as he slept. He was getting losing weight, though, and Jonas could tell by his thinning cheekbones. Jonas placed his hands at his side and gingerly pulled out the parcel of stolen community food. His fingers split open the clasp between the cover and container, and he peered inside eagerly. There was nothing more than a few stale bread crusts in the food container, clearly picked at by a young child who hadn't felt like finishing the evening meal. Jonas carefully picked up the hard crust with his thumb and forefinger. He took a tiny nibble and savored it more than he ever thought possible.

He took another tiny bite, but then he simply couldn't take it. Why should he act as if he was being forced to eat when he was rash with hunger? He stuffed the bread crust into his mouth, and then another. He hardly tasted the dry crusts before swallowing. What was there to taste, anyway he thought? All of the food in the community was bland and quick-filling. _Should I eat another piece?_ Jonas thought_. I can't, Gabriel will wake up and he'll be hungry. Plus, we'll probably be traveling for a while before we get to elsewhere. _Those two bread crusts did little good, but his hunger would have to wait. Jonas closed the container and –_plunk! _Something tiny and hard came out of nowhere and bounced off the top.

Jonas swerved his head around in fear. "Who-who's there?" he asked the forest –_plunk_! There it was again! A small piece of ice hurdled down from the skies and hit Jonas smack in the nose. Bewildered, Jonas picked up the tiny spherical crystal. _What in the world!?_ Jonas thought. He held the piece of ice in his fingers and examined it closely. It was a tiny piece of spherical ice, about the size of marbles he used to play with his friends back in the community. Jonas recalled the memory of snow that the Giver gave him. But never had he received memories of this bizarre weather, whatever it was.

_Plunk! Plunk! Plunk!_ Were the sounds of the pieces of ice falling all around him. _Plunk! Plunk! Plunk!_ They went as they hit the trees, the rocks, and the bare ground. They were falling more heavily now, and they as if someone had a giant bucket of ice and was simply pouring it out on to the forest. He had no idea what the ice was, but he knew he had to build a shelter to get him and Gabe out of it. Jonas stood up quickly, holding Gabe close to him. He ran around the forest, desperately searching for fallen tree branches. There was one! Jonas grabbed it and leaned it against the oak tree.

_PlunkPlunkPlunkPlunkPlunk _The ice was falling heavier now, and it was growing by the second. Strategically placing his feet so he didn't slip, Jonas fond more and more tree branches and leaned them against the tree. The ice kept on falling like tiny, icy, comets falling from the sky and pelting Jonas all over. Finally, when he had made a pathetic excuse of a lean-to against the old oak tree, he scurried underneath it and cradled the still slumbering Gabe in his arms to wait out the storm.

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**Hope you enjoyed! Any suggestions or constructive criticism (I'm a newbie so go easy on me)would be very much appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

So here's chapter 2! I hope you enjoy!

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Jonas awoke to the deafening cries of the thinning baby he held in his arms. "Gabriel, how many times must I tell you? We're out of food." Despite his utmost efforts to ration the meager scraps of food, the stolen food from the community had officially run out a few days ago, or had it been a few weeks?

The days seemed to blur into one another, and the only thing that told them apart was the severity of hunger in each day. and now he was beginning to feel _real _hunger. Not the nagging kind that he had felt back in the community between meals, but the deep, aching, kind that made him feel like his stomach was eating _itself. _

_The closest he had ever gotten to this was when The Giver had given him that awful memory of starvation. But this was even realer than that. Memories were just like awful nightmares that you woke up from eventually. But this was much, much worse. There was no waking up. _Jonas sat up, the lean-to he had made. The lean-to had been a desperate and pathetic attempt to get him and Gabe out of the pelting, frozen rain that had seemed like tiny balls of pure cold and hurdling at them from above a few days ago.

Although it served as a life preserver for the thinning boy and sickly baby, it was really nothing more than several tree branches leaned up against an ancient oak tree.

Jonas took Gabriel on to his lap and bounced him, trying to get him to relax, "Don't cry, Gabe. I'm hungry too. But right now-"Gabriel thrusted himself out of Jonas' hold and continued to scream. Frustrated, Jonas set Gabriel down on the forest ground next to him. This hunger was making him go insane, and Gabriel's screams certainly didn't help.

He brought his knees to his chest and buried his face into them. _Here Gabe is, screaming his head off, while I should be the one crying_. Gabriel's rambunctious bawling was because of his hunger, Jonas knew, but that didn't make it any less irritating. I just need to go outside. Jonas thought. I won't leave him alone, I just need to go outside and stand up. Jonas crawled of the sorry makeshift shelter and stood up, stretching into the rays of sunlight that poured generously form the heavens. His then chest then heaved as he took a deep breath. The sun was out now, and that meant, against all odds, he could keep going.

OR, he could just give up. He could stay here, in the middle of the forest, and could just let himself go, and not even try anymore. Just lie down on the cold forest ground and let himself go…, or he could fight until the end. He wouldn't let all of his fighting go to waste. He hadn't left behind the community, saved Gabriel from release, and gotten blisters for nothing. All of that time with the giver, all of the memories, all of the feelings, all of the colors, he couldn't let them be a waste. Not now, after he had come this far. He was going to get to Elsewhere or die trying. He had never felt such as exhaustion as this, and his insides felt hollow with hunger, no, starvation.

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Hope you enjoyed! :) I don't mind reviews, by the way... ;)


	3. Chapter 3

_Jonas woke up again, staring at the pale baby he held close. Gabe's freckled face was thin and lifeless, and his chest seemed to barely move. His eyes were closed, and he his little body had grown tired of crying out for food that was simply nonexistent. _

_"Wait a sec is he…..?!" Jonas pressed his ear against the newchild's tiny chest and was relived to hear a slow, but steady, thumping. "JoooooOOOOOOOONaaaaaaaaas." Jonas swerved his head around in fear. He swore he could hear someone calling his name. He gave Gabe a tight squeeze to ignore it. "Joooooooonaaaaaaas. " He stood up and turned around in a circle, bewildered and fearing the source of the voice. "JooooooOOOnaaas."_

_There the voice was again! It sounded like a female voice, and it was soft and gentle like the voice his father would speak to newchildren with. Jonas set Gabe against the old tree, and called out "Who's there'".he tried to sound confident, but he shook with fear. Looking around Jonas saw a slender figure approaching him. The figure came from far away and was getting bigger as they got closer. _

_The person sported a head of fiery red hair. It was- Fiona! Jonas stumbled toward the figure that stared at him deeply. "Jonas? Where have you been? Everyone in the community has been worried….. "Before Jonas had a chance to reply, the figure morphed into Lilly. Jonas' sister stood barefoot in her night clothes, her unbraided, unruly hair like a frame to her dainty little face. _

_She was clutching her comfort object in one hand and a clear liquid filled syringe in the other. "It's time for your release, Jonas" she said as she pushed down on the plunger of the syringe, and her face lit up at the liquid that streamed out. _

_Jonas shook his head and held his arms out "L-L-Lily don't do this," he said backing away slowly. __"Release is bad." _

_Lily's face burrowed with confusion as she stepped closer. "Bad? Do you mean impolite, or disobedient or unruly? Bad is too vague of a word to communicate with properly."_

_"__Lily, listen to me. Jonas said. Release isn't what you think it is. It-it's **killing**." _

_"Killing?" Lilly said, tilting her head with confusion. "What a strange word, I've never heard of it before" she said. _

_"Lily, pl-'" before he could finish his sentence, he tripped over a root and fell backwards and felt his head slam against the forest ground. Through all his pain, he managed to open his eyes to see Lily standing over him, smiling and holding the needle of the syringe close to his flesh. _

_"Don't worry Jonas. It will only hurt for a little."_


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is the long awaited chapter 4! Please enjoy!**

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Before he could even think he realized the ache in the back of his head. It was more of a miserable throbbing, like someone was hitting him with a hammer in the back of his head over and over again. He was in a room with bare whitewashed walls and dark gray hardwood floors. In the medium sized fire place a fire burned vigorously and made loud crackling noises every few seconds.

He lay on a small wooden bed with several colorful old, but clean quilts wrapped around him and his head propped up by two fluffy feather pillows. His once filthy skin had been scrubbed clean and his community clothes were replaced with an oversized pajama shirt and pants.

A couple of feet away, there was another bed identical to his, but it was bare other than a thin mattress. The room was filled with several baskets of jarred food, as well as baskets full of dried beans, corn, apricots, dates, figs, as well as many nuts. _Whoever lives here, this must be their storage room_. _I have to find Gabriel_ Jonas thought in a panic. _who knows what these peoples' motives are_. As Jonas tried to sit up, it became clear to him how weak he really was. He had been out for nearly two weeks, and so his joints hadn't been used in a while.

At first he tried to sit up by pushing himself up with his arms, but his elbows buckled and he fell back down. _Alright I have to do this_ he thought.

Slowly, he pushed himself up with his elbows until he was sitting upright. Then, he rolled off the multiple quilts he was wrapped in and swung his feet over the side of the bed. _Ok, I can do this._ He told himself. He stood up slowly, moving his weight on to his two double-socked feet. He felt his knees shaking violently and knocking together, but he carefully and slowly put one foot in front of the other.

With his arms waving about like a crazy person, Jonas got the hang of walking for the second time in his young life. _Look at me! _Jonas thought. _Wobbling around on my own two feet like a newchild_. Under any other circumstances, the thought would make him laugh.

Eventually, though Jonas made it to the unfinished wooden door way. He was standing in a small hallway with another bedroom on the side next to his and a bedroom and a bathroom across the hallway. These walls were also whitewashed but the floors were a made of a dark grey wood and the ceiling was made of pinewood panels.

Still feeling dazed, confused and disoriented, he stumbled his way to the end of the hallway, at which a family stood there. This must be the living room Jonas thought. There was a grand stone fireplace on one side, and in front there was a large Persian rug on which to children sat playing with toys. The rug was between were two cushioned wooden benches, as well as a wooden rocking chair where a girl sat rocking a baby. . Wait- the baby was Gabriel!

"Gabe!" Jonas called out. Immediately, all heads in the room were on him. For a few seconds, the family who had been caring for the unconscious Jonas just stared. Then, the little girl stood up. She was wearing pale pink overalls with an ivory colored long sleeved shirt underneath. _She looks about the same age as Lily, _Jonas thought._But she's got red hair just like Fiona's. _

"Hi Jonas" the little girl said, smiling a shy, gap-toothed smile. "You were asleep far a long time." Silence again. A woman with whitish-blonde hair and eyebrows to match stepped toward Jonas. She wore an ankle length grey wool skirt and a knit black shawl. Her eyes fixed on Jonas, she waved her fingers to the side and said "Casper, honey, go and tell papa Jonas has woken up."

"But I want to tell him!' The red haired girl whined, crossing her arms and stomping her bare foot in protest." "No I want to! Amma told me to! Not you! The little boy said, standing up and stomping his foot in a similar manner. Both of you can the woman said in a firm, slightly annoyed, voice. "Now go!" "I'll bet I can get to him first!' The little girl said with a sly grin, running to the row of shoes and shoving her feet into her boots, and opening the lock to the wooden door. "No you won't!" The little boy screamed, barely getting his feet into his boots before running out after the girl.

"M-M-May I hold him please?" Jonas said, his voice cracking and he could feel his eyes glistening over. The girl holding Gabe in her lap looked over at the woman, and she nodded. The girl got up from the rocking chair and walked over to Jonas, bouncing Gabriel gently in her arms. Feeling hot tears run down his face, he took into his arms the baby arms a and squeezed him gently. "We made it Gabe. We really made it."

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**I hope you enjoyed! This is NOT THE LAST CHAPTER, so stay tuned! Please review, I really appreciate it!**


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